Despite the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s unanimous vote to terminate the cockamamie 2017 Trump administration’s proposed rulemaking to “rescue” the coal industry, based on a flawed definition of “reliability,” the commission announced on Monday it will take a detailed look at the issue of power system reliability in the context of the Texas weather debacle.
Rich Glick, FERC chairman, said the commission this spring will dig into the issue of electric reliability, including the connection with climate change. FERC said that “the proceeding will examine how grid operators prepare for and respond to extreme weather events, including, but not limited to droughts, extreme cold, wildfires, hurricanes, and prolonged heat waves.”
Glick commented, “The effects of climate change are already apparent, and we must do everything we can within our statutory authority to ensure that the electric grid is capable of keeping the lights on in the face of extreme weather.” The inquiry will include a technical conference. The announcement included no further details.
Republican commissioner Neil Chatterjee, who was the only vote against removing the Trump proposal from the FERC docket, said he was happy with the decision to roll out a new reliability inquiry. He tweeted, “I’m glad FERC is reopening the resilience docket, albeit under a new name, to comprehensively explore the nationwide threat climate change and extreme weather events post to the bulk electric system.”
In the aftermath of the Texas freeze and failure of the electrical system, FERC has rolled out a series of actions. They may shed light on what happened in Texas, but it appears there is little FERC and the North American Electric Reliability Corp. can do to rectify the systemic failings of the Texas system, as the state has deliberately isolated its electric system from federal regulation for decades, structuring itself so it is not involved in interstate commerce.
Also on Monday, FERC said its Office of Enforcement “is examining wholesale natural gas and electricity market activity during last week’s extreme cold weather to determine if any market participants engaged in market manipulation or other violations. If the Office of Enforcement finds any potential wrongdoing that can be addressed under FERC’s statutory authority, it will pursue those matters as non-public investigations.”
In classic bureaucratic bafflespeak, the commission added, “Throughout this process, the Office of Enforcement will work with FERC’s federal partners as necessary and appropriate,” whatever the hell that means.
As the Texas events began developing last week, FERC on Feb. 16 said it and NERC “will open a joint inquiry into the operations of the bulk-power system during the extreme winter weather conditions currently being experienced by the Midwest and South central states. The severe cold weather over the weekend, and continuing into this week, has contributed to power outages affecting millions of electricity customers throughout the region.”
Two days later, Feb. 18, FERC said it “continues to closely monitor critical efforts to restore power as quickly as possible and ensure the safety of people in the Midwest and Southern states that were hard hit by extreme winter weather earlier this week. FERC remains in contact with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) as they work to restore service on their systems.”
Glick said, “This is simply unacceptable. The short-term focus must be on restoring power to the grid. But we also have a responsibility to ensure this does not happen again.”
In 2011, after a similar but less catastrophic winter weather assault on the Lone Star State, FERC investigated, came up with a series of recommendations on winter preparedness and weatherization. Texas ignored the advice, which had no teeth.
As early 20th Century philosopher George Santayana said in “The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress,” “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
–Kennedy Maize